A Farewell to Arms: Conlict of Two Desires

In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway creates a character referred to as Lieutenant Frederic Henry, who is subject to a painful internal conflict throughout the book. He is pulled in one direction by his desire for the beautiful English nurse’s aide named Catherine Barkley and a completely different direction by his obligation to fulfill his duties as an ambulance driver serving in the Italian army during World War I. This conflict eventually comes to be the essence and core of the story.

The mutual love between Henry and Catherine begins as just a playful game of seduction, exchanging feigned plans for the future and almost numb kisses. However, it eventually grows to a point of passion, although it may be a subconscious illusion on both of their parts, where he does not want to be without her for the long stretches of time that he spends at war. Lieutenant Henry is wounded on the battlefield and sent to the hospital to have a necessary knee operation and then recuperate. ...